Plane scare spreads new fears of Ebola
Experts scramble to trace contacts of a Liberian passenger who later died, but say infection unlikely.
DAKAR, Senegal - No one knows for sure just how many people Patrick Sawyer came into contact with the day he boarded a flight in Liberia, had a stopover in Ghana, changed planes in Togo, and then arrived in Nigeria, where authorities say the Liberian official died days later from Ebola, one of the deadliest diseases known to man.
Now, health workers are scrambling to trace those who may have been exposed to Sawyer across West Africa, including flight attendants and fellow passengers.
Health experts say it is unlikely he could have infected others with the virus that can cause victims to bleed from the eyes, mouth, and ears. Still, unsettling questions remain: How could a man whose sister recently died from Ebola manage to board a plane leaving the country? And worse: Could Ebola become the latest disease to be spread by international air travel?
Sawyer's death Friday has led to tighter screening of airline passengers in West Africa, where an unprecedented outbreak that emerged in March has killed more than 670 people in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. But some health authorities expressed little confidence in such precautions.
"The best thing would be if people did not travel when they were sick," said physician David Heymann, professor of infectious diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. "But the problem is, people won't say when they're sick. They will lie in order to travel, so it is doubtful travel recommendations would have a big impact."
Liberia President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf late Sunday closed most of the country's land borders, restricted public gatherings, and quarantined communities that have seen Ebola outbreaks to try to contain the deadly virus.
The risk of travelers contracting Ebola is considered low because it requires direct contact with bodily fluids or secretions such as urine, blood, sweat, or saliva, experts say. Ebola can't be spread like flu through casual contact or breathing in the same air.
Patients are contagious only once the disease has progressed to the point they show symptoms, according to the World Health Organization. And the most vulnerable are health-care workers and relatives who come in much closer contact with the sick.
Health officials rely on "contact tracing" - locating anyone who may have been exposed, and then anyone who may have come into contact with that person. That may prove impossible, given that other passengers journeyed on to dozens of other cities.
International travel has made the spread of disease via airplanes almost routine. Outbreaks of measles, polio, and cholera have been traced back to countries thousands of miles away.
Two American aid workers in Liberia have tested positive for the virus and are being treated there. U.S. health officials said Monday that the risk of the deadly germ spreading to the United States was remote.
"It will be very difficult now to contain this outbreak because it's spread," Heymann said. "The chance to stop it quickly was months ago before it crossed borders. ... But this can still be stopped if there is good hospital infection control, contact tracing, and collaboration between countries."
